Free services for student-generated web sites
Many instructors want to get their students involved in contributing content to web sites for class projects; in some cases, they want the students to build a site from scratch. IT support staff (such as myself) are typically reluctant to provision resources on University systems for such projects. Setting up and maintaining sites can consume a lot of staff effort, plus there are concerns about system security, managing permissions, etc.
Fortunately, there are now lots of ways that instructors can have students build web sites using free services that are available to the public. Below are links for just a few of these services.
Of course, before creating assignments that will generate publicly-viewable web sites, instructors need to make sure that the assignment will not invite students to disclose confidential or personal information. I’ll have more about that topic in my next post.
http://www.blogger.com
It’s easy for students to create accounts and start posting within just a few minutes.
OK, a blog is not the same thing as a “web site,” but in many cases it gets the job done. It’s one of the easiest ways to get information posted in a timely way. Contributors can post to their blogs via email, making it possible for them update content from almost anywhere via mobile devices
http://sites.google.com/
Google Sites lets almost anyone build a site without having to know HTML. Everything the students need to do happens in a standard web browser, so there’s no need for special software like Dreamweaver. Many students already have google accounts, so they can get started quickly.
http://www.webs.com/
Webs is another free service which provides an impressive array of supported features, including calendars, photo galleries, forums, various widgets, statistics tracking and much more. Sites created through webs.com will include an advertising banner, but if you can live with that, it’s a great resource.
http://freehostia.com/
Is an internet hosting site that offers a basic service tier for free with no advertising; there is a $10 per year fee for registering a domain name (e.g. myclassproject.org). This is a good choice for those who want the complete flexibility for developing a site from scratch, without having to use preformatted templates, etc. It requires that users understand how to transfer files via FTP, etc. But it does offer a traditional Unix hosting environment for free for sites which don’t need a lot of storage space of expect large numbers of visitors; sites can be upgraded to accommodate more space and traffic for reasonable fees.
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Comments
Elizabeth Scheyder and I have been collaborating with Bruce Lenthall and his history class – they are making a document reader with Google Sites. Seems like a good solution so far – they work in groups but each student gets a page all to themselves to build, and the end result is expected to be a coherent website that others can use. For Weigle Information Commons, this is our first class experience with Google Sites at Penn.
I really like the free WordPress (http://wordpress.com/) for blogs. With dozens of themes and the ability to create pages, it’s another great option for creating student web pages.